Edmonton Expo 2016: The Silmarillion 101 Panel

I’ve always been interested with The Lord of the Rings. I took in the Women of Tolkien panel at the last Calgary Expo, and Alex Thompson, one of the women behind that panel there has joined all of us here at this years Edmonton Expo to give us a look at the Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion is actually Tolkien’s first book and also his last. In origin it precedes even The Hobbit, and is the story of the First Age of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about.

The Silmarillion combines five parts:
1. The Ainulindalë – the creation of Eä, Tolkien’s universe.
2. The Valaquenta – a description of the Valar and Maiar
3. The Quenta Silmarillion – the history of the events before and during the First Age
4. The Akallabêth – the history of the Second Age
5. Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age